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Show 8 MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2014 Science & Tech WWW.WSUSIGNPOST.COM NUAMES promotes robotics By KARISSA WANG Davis reporter | @karissawang PHOTO BY LICHELLE JENKINS | THE SIGNPOST Guests socialize at the second annual NUAMES Robotics Fundraising dinner. The dinner featured NUAMES' two robotics clubs, First Robotics and VEX Robotics. Weber State Davis campus was abuzz with activity this past Wednesday evening. An aroma of fresh food floated in the air, and robots swerved around at the command of their drivers. The Northern Utah Academy for Math, Engineering and Science (NUAMES), an early college high school that holds a partnership with Weber State University, held their second annual Robotics Fundraising Dinner in the D3 Ballroom. The purpose of the event was to help spread the word about the robotics organizations and raise money to fund the program. NUAMES robotics members sold $25 seats to family, friends and local businesses willing to support their cause. All 30 tables were reserved. “The program here at NUAMES takes about $20,000 dollars a year to run,” estimated Bryan Rudes, a robotics teacher and mentor who took a key role in organizing the event. Income from the dinner and silent auction will be split between the two robotics clubs at NUAMES: First Robotics and VEX Robotics. First Robotics is a larger team effort, with all members focused on building one robot in a period of six weeks. They then proceed to compete with teams across the world. Paige Lewis, the First Robotics safety captain, holds the job of organizing the workshop, keeping her team members safe and confirming the robot meets safety requirements. “I’m really passionate about robotics,” Lewis said. “I’m always thinking about how I can help the team be better.” VEX Robotics consists of competitions which span from August to April of every year. VEX teams are smaller than those in First Robotics; they consist of only three to seven members each. NUAMES currently has 80 VEX teams. In a welcoming speech to the dinner attendees, Rudes highlighted the expansion of the robotics teams throughout the years. “We started this at NUAMES with about 15 people in the program altogether. Today you’re looking at about 70 students who are participating in robotics after school,” he said. As many of those 70 members as could make it dressed up for the dinner and helped out in various areas. Kids assisted in cleaning, prepping food in the kitchen, serving guests and bussing dirty dishes. Dinner attendees were served a family-style spaghetti dinner, which also included rolls, salad and bread pudding provided by local businesses Wilcox Farms and MacCool’s. “(The dinner) was a lot more structured than I had imagined,” said Cynthia Bull. Bull attended the event after hearing about it through her daughter, a “I'm really passionate about robotics. I'm always thinking about how I can help the team be better.” PAIGE LEWIS First Robotics Captain member of the team. “The food was good and the service was great,” said Thomas Evans, a guest at the dinner. Overall, the students and planners of the event considered it to be successful. “(Our goal) was to make everybody happy. We wanted to raise money so we could make another robot. And we had fun in the process,” said Braden Bell, a First Robotics member. Although the funding from the dinner helped build their budget, the NUAMES robotics team is still looking for donations. Contact brudes@dsdmail.net for more information. Comment on this story at wsusignpost.com SCIENCE WEEKLY by: LIZ RUTTENBUR Skin cells reprogrammed into brain cells Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri have found a way to battle Huntington’s disease. Huntington’s disease is a disorder in which nerve cells in certain parts of the brain degenerate. This disorder is passed down through families due to a genetic defect on chromosome 4. This defect causes part of DNA called a CAG repeat to occur more times than it’s supposed to. The larger number of repeats in the DNA, the higher the chances of someone developing symptoms at an early age. Huntington’s disease causes symptoms such as: • Hallucinations • Irritability • Moodiness • Paranoia • Uncontrolled movements • Dementia that worsens over time Researchers have now demonstrated that skin cells can be converted to a specific type of brain cell called medium spiny neurons, which are most affected by Huntington’s disease. Their technique is unique due to their new process that bypasses the stem cell phase. The research involved adult human skin cells, which are more easily accessible. Using a patient’s own cells ensures that their immune system will not reject them. In a skin cell, DNA instructions on how to be different types of cells are hidden. Exposure to two microRNAs, called miR-9 and miR-124, alters how those instructions are packed away inside the cell. As soon as the genes important for becoming brain cells opened up, researchers started to tweak the chemical signals, exposing the cells to additional molecules called transcription factors. These molecules are present in the part of the brain where the medium spiny neurons are common. The skin cells were eventually converted into the brain cells after prolonged exposure to the transcription factors. The cells were then injected into the brains of mice and were proven to look and behave the way native medium spiny neurons would. Researchers are now taking skin cells from patients with Huntington’s disease and reprogramming them into the necessary brain cells. Plans to inject mice with a model of Huntington’s diseased with reprogrammed cells is underway. Information compiled from sciencedaily.com |